Once upon a time, soon after the civil war and establishing the western U.S. as a territory that had to be tamed, cowboys got their start. We aren’t talking about the typical cowboys you see in Hollywood movies. We are talking about the men who stood up for what they believed in (a good day’s work herding cattle) and tamed the west while they were at it. We are talking about the Doc Holiday, Wyatt Earp, good guy, bad guy, type cowboys only with a little twist.

The Good

Cowboys, which originated in Mexico and we embraced the idea of, were a great thing for American History. You may say that they were vital during the western expansion and subsequent settling of all the land beyond the Mississippi River. They were there when the first railroads came to be. The railroads allowed easier travel to the western U.S.

The Bad

The “cowboy” was a group of people who would herd cattle to the northern territories where beef was a commodity. There would typically be 6-8 men riding in a group to get roughly 3,000 cattle at one time to railroad depots or up north where it could be sold for as much as $40 per cow. It was a rough life. The cattle would be branded to show which farm owned it and occasionally conflicts did come up.  It was a way of life that was rough, a fact which was proven in 1886-1887 when an exceptionally cold winter killed most cattle.

The Ugly

After the big freeze, the “cowboy era” was slowed drastically. Fewer cattle would be moved at one time. Feuds over property lines meant that farmers turned to barbed wire to protect what was there. Some cowboys turned to a more “lawless” existence while others simply wanted to work with cattle on a private farm where an average workday would last about 15 hours a day.

Off to the Rodeos

During this time, some cowboys would take part in calf roping, bull riding, and other sports to test their skills against one another. However, if you look throughout history, the rodeo has been something people did since the 1700s in Spanish areas. They taught the cowboys their skills, their style of dress, and more. It all led to the first professional rodeo, which took place in Prescott, Arizona during the year of 1888.

Over time, even women began to take place in the rodeos. They were out there barrel racing and roping as good as the men.

As time progressed, cowboys became fewer and the work changed some, but the same jobs they did then are still useful today. In certain parts of the U.S., the cowboy lifestyle is alive and well. Places like Texas, Wyoming, Montana, and more still stay true to the lifestyle that “cowboys” started, though often today we call them “ranchers”. They live on the farm and rely on cattle of some type for their livelihood.